Fidelity now allows clients to put bitcoins in IRAs

Editor\’s note posted on Dec. 12: A Fidelity spokesman told MarketWatch on Thursday, Dec. 12, that Fidelity no longer allows bitcoin investments in IRAs. “On an individual basis, we allowed an investor to invest in that Bitcoin Investment Trust. We are no longer allowing that,\” said Rob Beauregard, director of public relations at Fidelity. Read our follow-up post here.

Fidelity has partnered with SecondMarket\’s Bitcoin Investment Trust to allow its clients to save for their retirement by putting the virtual currency in self-directed IRAs.

\”If you are a Fidelity client, you can now invest in the Bitcoin Investment Trust through an IRA,\” said Barry Silbert, chief executive of SecondMarket, in an interview.

The Bitcoin Investment Trust is an open-ended trust that launched in late September and only invests in the virtual currency. The trust, which is only open to accredited investors, had $62.6 million in assets under management as of Tuesday.

MarketWatch previously reported that SecondMarket had teamed up with self-directed IRA providers PENSCO, Entrust and Equity Institutional to allow investors to save for retirement with bitcoin. Fidelity is the largest and most well-known company that SecondMarket has teamed up with for this, Silbert said, adding that he hopes to add a few more providers soon.

An emailed request for comment from Fidelity wasn\’t immediately returned.

Bitcoin has become a hot topic of late as its price has skyrocketed, attracting the attention of venture capitalists, regulators and central bankers. Unlike currencies such as the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen, bitcoin doesn\’t have a central bank. Instead, the virtual currency is created through a process called mining, in which a computer solves a cryptographic problem.

Story Conversation

About The Tell

The Tell is MarketWatch’s fast and engaging look at trends and themes in the day’s markets. Drawing on our reporters, analysts and commentators around the world, as well as selecting the best of the rest online, The Tell is all about the pulse of the markets through news, insight and strategic information to help you make the best investing decisions. Got a tip? Tell us at TheTell@MarketWatch.com